It is presumptuous, arrogant, crazy, strange and pathetic for a Liverpool-based husband, father of five, and headteacher to begin, in middle age and seemingly out of the blue, a blog and podcast about Francis of Assisi and becoming Franciscan.
It does not seem that this sort of project could be of much use to anyone. It is likely to confuse and confound. It seems to come from nothing and seems to be going nowhere. It is most likely to arouse a strange curiosity among family and friends, and some mockery among others. And yet, I want to do it, to begin this blog and podcast. I trust that the desire to do it comes from a good place. We all sometimes feel we have to do something without quite knowing the reason why. When we do these things we have faith that the initiative for them comes from something good and is directed at something good for us at least, and we hope, for others.
In any case, in doing seemingly unusual things, I am in the good company of Francis of Assisi himself. He stood stark naked in front of his parents and a bishop during a dispute he had with his family. They wanted him to return the money he had taken from them to rebuild a church. They wanted him back. His gesture scandalized, shocked, and also pained others. But it came, if it fruits later in his life are fairly considered, from a very good place.
Nothing as dramatic as all that is happening here. Starting a blog, in comparison, seems mild mannered, cliched even, an eccentricity and exploration rather than a commitment.
When in his young life Francis heard the Gospel read to him, his heart leapt. This is exactly what I experienced when I began to learn about him. This blog and project are an attempt to discover why this person, Francis of Assisi, and this way of life he created, exemplified, and embraced, appeal to me. Where does this desire to follow him in this path and this attraction to him as a person come from? What should I do about it this inspiration and attraction?
Those questions do not admit of an immediate answer. Questions of this kind have been asked and answered by millions of people over 800 years in uncountable and very different ways. But to explore them is itself a response to my leaping heart. That is what I want to do, and, like Francis, I want to share with others, listen to others, and take tentative steps to discover what there is in Francis for me and for others.
So, welcome to Becoming Franciscan.